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Quality of life following DBS in the caudal zona incerta in patients with essential tremor

  • Clinical Article
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Abstract

Background

Essential tremor (ET) is the most common movement disorder and often affects the quality of life. There are only a few studies evaluating the quality of life after deep brain stimulation (DBS).

Findings

This is a prospective study of 16 patients undergoing deep brain stimulation in the caudal Zona incerta (cZi). The quality of life was assessed with Quality of Life in Essential Tremor Questionnaire (QUEST) and SF-36 scores, and the tremor was evaluated using the essential tremor rating scale (ETRS).

Results

In the tremor rating, hand tremor on the treated side improved by 95%, hand function by 78% and activities of daily living by 71%. The QUEST score showed statistically significant improvements in the psychosocial and activities of daily living subscores. The SF-36 score did not show any significant improvement.

Conclusions

Although very good tremor reduction was achieved, the improvement in the quality of life scores was more modest. This could partly be explained by the quality of life being affected by other factors than the tremor itself.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology and Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Neurosurgery, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

    Ulrika Sandvik & Patric Blomstedt

  2. Department of Community Medicine and Rehabilitation, Division of Occupational Therapy, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

    Gun-Marie Hariz

  3. Department of Neurosurgery, Umeå University Hospital, SE-901 85, Umeå, Sweden

    Ulrika Sandvik

Authors
  1. Ulrika Sandvik
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  2. Gun-Marie Hariz
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  3. Patric Blomstedt
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Correspondence to Ulrika Sandvik.

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Sandvik, U., Hariz, GM. & Blomstedt, P. Quality of life following DBS in the caudal zona incerta in patients with essential tremor. Acta Neurochir 154, 495–499 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00701-011-1230-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00701-011-1230-z

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